Cloth-folding device



May 12, 1925. 1,537,118

C. E. KENT CLOTH FOLDING DEVICE Filed June 14, 1924 Cbaz'loil'e E- Ker-Lt.

Patented May 12, 1925.

1,537,118 Parent OFFICE.

CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH KENT, OF OSGOOD, MISSOURI.

CLOTH-FOLDING DEVICE.

A plication filed June 14, 1924. Serial No. 720,143.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Crraiuio'r'rn E. KENT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Osgood, in the county of Sullivan and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cloth-Folding Devices,'of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for folding strips of cloth and has as one of its objects to provide a device of extremely simple construction which may be moved in advance of an iron and which will automaticallyfold a strip of cloth properly as: sociated with it, the foldbeing permanently formed or set by the iron.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose stated to accommodate cloth strips of various widths so that a strip of any selected width may he provided with two parallel folds at opposite sides ofits longitudinal median line, thus forming a binding or trimming, or, if desired, the device may be employed by passing a relatively Wide strip through the device and initially folding the said strip, and then passing the folded strip through the device to form further folds, so that in this manner rug rags may be folded and used in producing colonial braided rugs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device Lforthe purpose stated which will not require any particular at tention on the part ,of the user, it being merely necessary to thread thestrip to be folded, through the device and then advance the device along the strip by the nose of the iron employed in pressing the folded strip,

so that the folding operation may be accom-' plished expeditiously and at the same time accurately.

In. the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical. longitudinal sectional view through the device in use and disposed at one end against the nose of an iron; a

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device illustrating the manner in which the folds are formed;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

The device consists primarily of a plate 1 which may be of sheet metal or any other next adjacent the opposite end of the plate.

Considering the end edge 3 of the plate as the rear edge and the opposite end edge as the advancing edge, the plate is struck up, in advance of each of the slots 2, to provide a pair of spaced folding fingers indicated in general by the numeral 4. Eachof said fingers comprises a shank portion 5 which extends upwardly substantially at right angles from the plane of the plate 1, and a terminal portion 6 which projects inwardly substantially at right angles from the shank portion 5. At this point it will be understood and particularlyby reference to Figure 3 of the drawings, that the terminals 6 of the folding fingers 4 of each pair are presented toward each other and overlie the upper surface of the plate 1, the said terminals being spaced a suitable. distance above the said upper face of the plate to accommodate the folds of cloth of any ordinary thickness. It will likewise be observed by reference to Figure 2 that the inwardly presented sides of the shanks 5 of the folding fingers 4 whichare associated with each slot 2, are located in direct alinement with the end walls ofthe respective slots in the direction of the length of the plate.

In the use of the device, the strip of cloth to be folded, which strip has been either cut arrangement is effected upon the surface of an ironing board, and a pressing iron, indicated stationary and the plate '1 advanced along its length thus automatically forming two folds in the strip at opposite sides of the longitudinal median'linethereof' as clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing. As before stated, more than two folds may be formed in the strip by first threading the strip through one of the slots 2 to form the initial two folds as shown in Figure 2, and then after the strip has been folded inthis manner throughout its length, the'strips may be inserted through thatone of the slots 2 which is of substantially one-halfthe length of the slot through which the strip was intially passed. In this manner a substantially fou'rply strip is produced.

It will be evident from the foregoing that the invention is extremely simple in construction and may be stamped from sheet metal at an extremely lowcost and that it automatically ;1)G'1fOllllS the folding operation etliciently and expeditiously.

guiding and folding lingers having shank portions projecting upwardly from the plate and tern'iinal portions projecting inwardly toward each other, the said fingers being arranged in spaced relation and in advance of opposite ends of the slot, the inwardly presented sides of the shanks of the lingers beinglocated in alinement with the respective end walls of the said slot.

2. A cloth folding device comprising a plate formed with a series of t ansverse slots extending in parallelism and of successively increasing length throughout the series from one end to the other, and cloth guiding and foldiuglingers upon the plate in advance of each respective slot.

'3. A cloth folding device comprising a plate formedwith a series oftransverse slots extending in parallelism and of successively increasing length throughout the series from one end to the other, and cloth guiding and folding fingers upon the plate in advance of each respective slot,the said lingers being located substantially inalinement with the respective end walls of the respective slot.

In testimony whereof-I aliix my signature.

CHARLOTTEELIZABETl-IlKENT. [L.s.] 

